Overview of Neutropenia and Infection

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How neutropenia can affect your successful chemotherapy

Neutropenia (new-tro-pee-nee-uh) is the medical word for low white
blood cell count. It can be a very serious condition, because white blood
cells protect your body from infections. Without enough white blood cells
to protect you, even a small infected cut could become life-threatening.

Your doctor checks to see if you have neutropenia every time you get a
blood test. If you are neutropenic, every precaution will be taken to
avoid infection, even if no signs of infection are present.

Your doctor may prescribe NEUPOGEN® (Filgrastim), a treatment that stimulates your body to produce more white blood cells. Even with a medication like NEUPOGEN® there may be times when chemotherapy will have to be reduced or delayed until your white blood cell count returns to normal levels. This delay is to be avoided if possible. Research has shown that with some tumor types, getting the prescribed dose of chemotherapy on time, every time, is important to the chances of an improved survival.1,2,3 It is for this very reason that some doctors prescribe NEUPOGEN® at the start of chemotherapy, as a preventative step against the complications of neutropenia.

Regardless of when your doctor prescribes NEUPOGEN® for you, you should talk to him/her about continuing to take it after each subsequent chemotherapy cycle, because once you experience a low white blood cell count, you are much more likely to experience it again.4

It's important to note that NEUPOGEN®
does not eliminate the risk of infection entirely. What it does is minimize
your risk. Always be on the alert for the common signs of infection, such
as fever, chills, sore throat, rash, diarrhea, or redness, swelling, or
pain around a wound or sore. If you experience any of these, call your
doctor or nurse immediately.

NEUPOGEN® (filgrastim) is indicated to decrease the incidence of infection, as manifested by febrile neutropenia, in patients with nonmyeloid malignancies receiving myelosuppressive anticancer drugs associated with a significant incidence of severe neutropenia with fever.

With NEUPOGEN®, as with any medication,
you may experience some side effects. In a large study with 207 patients
receiving NEUPOGEN® therapy following
combination chemotherapy, bone pain was reported in 22% of patients. In
most cases, bone pain was controlled with non-narcotic analgesics such
as acetaminophen.